Marily Opperman

That's great. I would like to thank the Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre for nominating our project for this award. I would like to thank the people who made this project possible. Thanks to Capworks Management, especially to John Smith, the project director, and Pileen McGowan, redevelopment secretary; the Rice Daubney Group, in particular to John Hassock and Rod Groom. Tract Consultants, landscape architects, Julie Lee, and George Gallagher and the team from Barclay Mowlam, who was responsible for the construction.

There are many people today receiving this award with us; 54 artists and 42 community groups and organisations, including the Liverpool Hospital staff. They all contributed to make this very complex project a reality. Liverpool Hospital has been developed from a 400-bed district hospital to a 700 bed major hospital for the people of South Western Sydney, and it's also a principal teaching hospital for the University of New South Wales, and employs approximately 3000 people.

In 1991 during the early stages of the planning, the Liverpool Hospital Redevelopment Program decided to set aside approximately 0.25 per cent - in fact we were just talking about that - 0.2 per cent of the redevelopment budget to the commission of artworks to create a very humane and special place. In 1993 the redevelopment program commission, an arts plan, which was undertaken by the ACT Arts Council. I would like to thank Bill Royal, who with me consulted with the community and designed an arts plan for the redevelopment.

Planning involved the staff from all departments and service of the hospital and also of the local community. More than 500 groups and individuals were contacted and interviewed. Bill and I heard repeatedly of the need to consider the cultural diversity of the local community and 'Liverpool, A Living Heritage' became the blueprint for commissioning the artworks for Liverpool Hospital.

The plan was to be implemented in three stages. Stage 1, from 93 to 94, nine artists were commissioned artworks for the South Western Sydney area pathology service building, Caroline Chisholm Centre for Women and Babies, and the paediatric ward. It involved 12 community groups and organisations including staff and patients and visitors. Of the art planners working in this for the ACT Council at this stage was Bill Royal and Amanda Butler. I coordinated the planning for this stage.

Stage 2: 14 artists were commissioned works for the brain injury centre, the cancer therapy centre and Rainbow Cottage, which is a children's physiotherapy centre. It involved four community groups and I would like to thank the arts planner working for the ACT Arts Council on this stage, Paloma Ramos.

During stage 3, from 1995 to 97, 35 artists were commissioned for the aged care unit, mental health unit, clinical service building, Thomas and Rachel Moore Education Centre, the hospital forecourt and the internal courtyard. It involved 25 commissioned groups and organisations including the staff and the patients and the visitors. Identity, Environment and Art were responsible for stage 3. I would like to thank my assistants, Susie Down and Marta Fernandes, for their good work.

During the implementation of the plan, the hospital asked for me to play a very important role in selecting artists' concepts. The art commission involved staff, local community representatives, project management representatives, architect representatives and the arts plan team. We did a constant collaboration with the architects and landscape architects, and the users of course. During stage 3 a new project began to germinate from Liverpool Hospital Redevelopment Arts Program: Liverpool Health Service cultural and artistic enrichment program care.

A group of volunteers grew from a project that initiated at the aged care unit. The invaluable work of the care volunteers and the support from Liverpool Health Service management is creating the most exciting cultural development program. Thanks to the care group, represented here by their leader, Hugo Jasper. Great. And to Dr Collin MacArthur, who is the general manager of Liverpool Health Service.

At times we when we discussed the most basic needs for health care in Australia, a project such as this Liverpool Hospital arts project is daring. It dares to use creative solution to involve the community, to own their health service and their health issues. It dares to use collaborative processes. It dares to acknowledge that there is such a thing as social, spiritual and psychological pain and that people coming to hospital are separated from their familiar environments and with little control over their own bodies. A welcoming and humane environment means a lot to patients, visitors and staff.

To make visible the diversity of the community is a basic need within a hospital. Liverpool Hospital Redevelopment dared to involve young and migrant artists, those said to have no calibre for a public art program. It dared to set up criteria for selecting artists that supported the involvement of local artists. It dared to be critical in relation to the ways artists worked with communities and to ensure that those processes were fair and the outcomes true to the community aesthetic.

Further, Liverpool Hospital dared to acknowledge that the redevelopment finished but the community development work was just beginning. The health service dared to open a studio space for care program, and engage in identity to continue the work. Liverpool Hospital Redevelopment dares to take away the fine and the community as objectives for arts and call it simply "arts."

This award is an encouragement to all of us especially to the continuity of the care program. I am sure the CEAD award will be a wonderful fertiliser for our work. Thank you.

Forward: Margie Fischer